I was just reading a mostly abysmal list of blog topics for writers (seriously, would anyone be interested in knowing what I’d say to Mark Zuckerberg about Facebook if I was alone with him for 5 minutes? Is this really a topic readers care about?!) and one actually jumped out at me: What books are you currently reading and why. The “sort of” comes in because I’m going to list everything I presently have marked as “currently reading” on Goodreads, but that list isn’t accurate because I haven’t even thought of some of these books in months, so clearly I’m not actually reading them. So I’m using making this list as an aid in deciding what to change from “currently reading” to something else.

Anyway, the list:

Star Rangers by Andre Norton: I picked this up cheap at a used bookstore mostly because someone once compared my writing style to hers and, as I’d never read any of her sci-fi, I wanted to know why. I think the comparison is because we seem to use a lot of the same tropes. After reading a bit of it, I discovered I’d long ago downloaded a free ebook of it under a different title. Oops. I haven’t touched it in over a year because I put it somewhere to keep Bella from stealing the bookmark and then couldn’t remember where it was until we were packing to move . . . and now I can’t remember which box it’s in, so I still can’t finish it. Yes, I just said I have the ebook, but since print books and ebooks don’t sync automatically I hate switching between them. This is a shame because it was pretty good. Pulpy and dated, yeah, but good nonetheless.

Lords of the Sky: Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, from the Red Baron to the F-16 by Dan Hampton: Fighter pilots have fascinated me for ages. This book has been really interesting so far, but I’ve just changed it from “currently reading” to “Want to read” because it’s rather dense and information packed and probably better suited to reading sometime when I can concentrate on just one book at a time.

Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery: Here we hit a book I actually forgot I was reading. I started reading it when I finished Anne of Green Gables last year and somehow totally forgot about it. Wow. I was reading it because I was trying to read the whole Anne series again. Or at least the good books in it.

Heroes of Zara Keep by Guy Gregory: This is another one I haven’t touched in a while. In the case of it, I’m just going to mark it “Did not finish” because . . . I wanted to like this book. Yeah, it was cheesy fantasy — that’s why I was reading it. It was another “picked up cheap at a used bookstore” thing. At first it seemed like it was going to be the good kind of cheesy fantasy. As I’ve gotten further into it though . . . it’s perfectly blah. I only have 67 pages left and have no interest in finishing it. At the speed I read, that’d only take like an hour. And I’m still not interested. I know how everything except the final fight is going to go because it’s that kind of book. Blah.

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien: I managed to forget I was re-reading this too! What the hell? I hope I don’t need to explain why I was re-reading it. I mean, it exists. Isn’t that reason enough for this one?

Not naming it or linking to it because it’s self-published and it’s not bad, it’s just not my thing: I apparently added this one to my “to read” list at some point last year. I’m not sure why because it’s not really the sort of book that normally appeals to me, being a sci-fi romance where the romance is the main thing. But the author contacted me and asked me to review it in exchange for a free copy, so I went ahead and started to read it. I’ve gotten about halfway in over several months. I’m going to start it over someday and try to finish it and give it an honest review, but I’m just not in the mood to read predictable romance lately.

Enchantress Mine by Bertrice Small: I picked this up in a used bookstore for some reason and started leafing through it. It was pretty good, so I bought it. I liked it until it got to the actual romance part. I’m having a hard time coming up with the enthusiasm to finish it now. Wish Bertrice Small just wrote historical fiction because I always like the non-romance parts of her books better than the romance parts. And her sex scenes . . . I’ve seen her described as writing “the purplest of purple prose” and that’s true where they’re concerned. So many metaphors and similes; so many bizarre euphemisms!

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett: I’m rereading all the Discworld Witches’ books because Granny Weatherwax is my hero. This is another book I lost for a while. I found it two days ago in the strangest of places: my laptop bag, in the pocket I use for books. No clue why I put a book there. Very strange place for it indeed.

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie: I read it as a kid and liked it, so I was seeing if I still did as an adult. So far, I’m liking it better. It’s enough darker than I remember that I’m wondering if the version I read was, despite the cover not marking it as such, an abridged version.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: I was just going to read the beginning to prove to myself that the people who were telling me the first 200 words of a story had to do certain things were full of shit. Next thing I knew, I was a few chapters in. I’ve stopped reading shortly before Beth dies and am having a hard time convincing myself to read that part, as always.

Treacherous Moon by Stephen Goldin: Read the first book in the series last year and loved it so when I found myself in the mood for space opera recently I started this one. It’s as good as the first one so far.

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire: Last night I found myself with no internet connection when I wanted to watch Doctor Who. So I decided to read a book that had a similar zany plot but believable characters feeling. After skimming through iBooks, this was the first thing meeting those criteria. I meant to just read a small bit of it, since, after all, it was just to take the place of a show I couldn’t watch. I ended up reading a quarter of it. Oops. This is the third time I’ve read this book in three years. I’m pretty sure that qualifies it as one of my favorite books.

You know, I never realize just how eclectic my tastes are until I do a list like that. I have weird tastes.

So, what are you reading? And do you care what I’d say to Mark Whatshisface about Facebook if I was alone with him for five minutes?